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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. track — a path
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. clip — to cut
  5. track — to keep track
  6. file — a line of people
  7. chair — a leader
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rule — a law
  10. date — the fruit
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. file — a tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. file — a document
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. clip — a video
  20. rule — government
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. track — a song
  24. date — on the calendar

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com